Just A Friend
by ForeverChanged1403
Summary: When he was the only person she had, he turned his back on her. When she cried out for his help, he ignored her. When he realized her pain and his mistake, he vowed to find her and right his wrongs, but it might already be too late.
1. Distant Hearts

Chapter 1 : Distant hearts

It was a nice and hot today, almost seeming to perfect as the wind blew just right, not enough to drive you crazy but also not so little you were waiting for it and it never came. It seemed the birds were extra happy on this particular day as they chirped amongst their self's in an unknown language to humans. The day was SO perfect in fact, that it had a pink haired beauty wondering why she was currently sitting in her dorm room watching it all go by before her eyes. Said pinkette was now currently facing her best friend wondering what the hell was going through his mind.

' _He must be INSANE if he's really considering sitting on his ass all day an watch this once in a life time perfect day go by, not to mention its FRIDAY!' _

The craziness of what she was thinking forced her to vocalize her thoughts.

"Sasuke, all jokes aside, are you really about to stay inside on this perfect day? PLEASE tell me your joking, because I can think of about 20 things off the top of my head right now that we could be doing!"

At this, said boy looked up from the book he was reading to stare blankly at his best friend with the most serious of looks. "Sakura, I've already told you, if you want to do something today, then go do it because I don't want to leave the dorms."

'_That's the biggest lie I've ever told, I'm about ready to jump out the window to get outside…'_

To which he then looked longingly towards the windows to the dorm. A frown marred Sakura's pretty face as she thought over what Sasuke had told her.

" I know you've said that already, but _I'VE_ told _YOU_ that I don't want to go out without you today. Besides, its not like I really know anybody…"

Sakura said whispering the last part, as she looked away from Sasuke's intense glare. He looked at her with annoyance shinning in his eyes as he noticed where the conversation was once again leading.

"Sakura, I've already told you to stop playing the guilt trip shit with me because it doesn't work anymore, and quite frankly, i'm tired of hearing it." _' Please just leave so that I can go out with Ino…"_

Sakura looked back at Sasuke with a shocked expression across her face.

"You think this is about guilt trips? Sasuke! How can you be so damn rude?! I DON'T KNOW ANYONE HERE in case you forgot that tiny detail, so please just shove it with all the guilt tri-"

"You know what _SAKURA_, I'VE CAME TO A CONCLUSION. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LEAVE, STAY HERE ALL DAY FOR ALL I CARE, I'M LEAVING!"and with that Sasuke was out the door, slamming it behind himself as he left. Sakura's jade green orbs grew big in disbelief, before slow, silent tears rolled down her face.

'_Why is he so angry lately?... it's like he cant stand me, or he wants to get away from me any way he can…'_

As Sakura pondered over that, Sasuke was outside the dorm room on the ground, with his hands buried into his scalp.

'_I cant believe that I just did that to Sakura!...She must think that I hate her….can Ino really be worth all of this?...'_

Sasuke definitely knew the answer to that question was a big, fat NO, but none the less he stood, making his way to the stairs, giving one last glance at his dorm room, before leaving.

Sakura furiously wiped away her tears, before walking towards the window again and looking out. It was such a beautiful day out that she would _have_ to go by herself. She couldn't waste this day, no matter how much she thought it would be better to go with her best friend. "I guess that's the end of the discussion…" Sakura walked over to their joined kitchen to grab her keys off the small hook rack above the light switch, before heading out the door herself. As she made her way outside, she faintly heard high pitched giggling, in fact, it was all too familiar 'high pitched giggling.'

As she rounded a corner of the building she was passing, she got a clear view of the show in front of her. Sasuke was standing around with Ino latched to his side, and a couple of his best friends, who she recognized as Naruto, Neji, Kiba, and Kabuto, along with their girlfriends Hinata, Tenten, Kiba was by himself (surprisingly), and Karin. They all looked to be having a perfect time, and looked as if they were getting ready to get into their cars, so Sakura slowly walked back around the corner she came from, so as not to be seen.

'_Its obvious that they didn't want me there, otherwise they would have invited me…or at least Sasuke would have…"_

She could hear the group talking clearly, and decided to listen until they left so that she could get to her car. Of course, Ino and her demanding annoying voice broke the chain of people with her stuck up attitude.

" Ohhhhhh SASUKE! I'm sooo glad you ditched that reject you call a friend, to be with me today!" To which she latched even harder to his waist.

Sakura's eyes grew wide as she listened to Ino talk. _' H-he __ditched m-me? To hang o-out with INO?!'_Sakura couldn't bear to hear any more of the conversation, so she hurried and took a sync route to her car, which would give them plenty of time to leave. Sakura left in such a rush that she didn't even catch Sasuke's response.

" Ino. I _won't_ tell you this _again_. If you aren't saying anything true or worth listening to, then keep sakura's name OUT of your mouth!" At that he snatched his arm away from Ino and proceeded to get to his car.

"Are you guys coming or not!" Everybody jumped at his angry powerful voice and scrambled to their appropriate cars. Ino huffed dramatically, not understanding why he was defending the ugly, nobody-of-a-girl, when he had someone as beautiful and important as her. None the less she put a smile back on her face, and happily walked to the passengers side of Sasuke;s car. Once she was in the car the group of people sped off.

Sakura walked down the path towards her car after noticing them leave, and slowly put her stuff in the back, not in much of a mood to be outside anymore, but forced herself knowing she would regret it if she went back inside.

' _I will not let_ them_ ruin_ my _perfect__ day!'_

With that thought she hopped in, and decided to change her course from a day shopping to a day at the beach.

When she got there, there was of course a bunch of kids running around and adults watching them carefully, but also enjoying their self's as well. It was perfect for her. A nice place to hang out alone, or to meet new people, who knew?

Sakura walked until she found a nice spot on the sand, and set her stuff out. She had a lounging chair that had an umbrella connected so in case she decided that she didn't want a tan, she'd be protected. Sakura slipped off her shorts and tank top, leaving her only in her two piece red swim suit. Nothing to unique about it, all though the top part tied at her neck and the bottoms tied at both sides of her hips, showing of her curvaceous body. Sakura sat on the beach chair before reaching into her bag and pulling out her sunscreen, and proceeded to lotion up every inch of skin she could reach.

After about 20 minutes of facing her front, she readied to turn over, but as she tried to lotion her back, she struggled bad. It must have been real bad because she eventually caught someones eye.

"Excuse me, but are you in need of assistance?"

Sakura froze her two minute battle to look up at the person who had addressed her. _'Oh My God HE'S HOT!' _Said guy stood there in all of his handsome glory, staring at her with what appeared bored eyes, but had a glint of amusement in them. He stood about 5'11 at least and when she realized she had just been staring at him she blushed and stared hard at the ground. " Oh..umm…that's nice of you to offer sir…but i'm fine really. And besides, I don't know you so that would be kind of ack…ward…" Sakura' s words trailed off as the man moved closer to her and gently yanked the bottle from her hands.

"Nonsense, I wouldn't forgive myself if I walked by knowing there's a beautiful girl in need of some assistance. Besides, I have nothing to do, and if you don't mind, I'd enjoy some company."

With that, the still nameless guy gently pushed on my back so that I was now laying on my stomach. "I really appreciate the help Mr…?" " Pardon my rudeness, my name is Itachi, Uchiha Itachi…and what is the beautiful name of the girl who's agreed to share my company this wonderful afternoon?" Sakura blushed once again at the comment he gave her before muttering out a quick 'Sakura Haruno.' "Aa. A beautiful name indeed, as I predicted."

Sakura laid there for a moment wondering if this was such a good idea or not, before she suddenly felt warm hands massaging her back. She almost let out a squeak, but after a few moments she was soon being hypnotized by the caress of his hands. She let out a disappointed groan when he finished, which earned her a small chuckle. After her brain-turned-mush started to function again, she suddenly remembered something that she had shoved to the back of her brain previously when the massage started. " Umm Itachi?...You said that your last name was Uchiha right?...Does that mean that you have a bro-" " Brother? Why yes in fact, I do. A younger one named Sasuke. I'm presuming that you know of him?"

Sakura looked up at him and nodded, not knowing how she could of missed the similarities between the two earlier. You could definitely tell them apart where as Sasuke still had that bad boy look to him, Itachi had a mature, sexiness to him. Sasuke's hair was a midnight black, almost blue, while Itachi was a rich deep shade of brown. Itachi's hair also was pretty long going to an inch past his shoulders and tied at the low end, where as Sasuke's hair was spiked up in the back like a chickens butt. Plus the deep lines on Itachi's face, there was no way you could know both boys and not tell that they were at least _related_. Sakura thought that after her scrutinization of him, she probably owed an explanation about knowing his brother. "Yea, umm we live together in the Konoha University dorms a few miles back. Strange though, in the time that I've known him, he's never told me about having a brother…" Sakura trailed off there seeing Itachi close his eye's as a sad smile crossed his beautiful face. "I'm not surprised about that. Sasuke and myself haven't gotten along with each other in about 5 years now… enough on old times though, he has talked about you, that is, he's mentioned knowing someone with pink hair, but he never told me your name. Something about secrets and what not."

Itachi then shook his head as if to discard such trivial thoughts from entering his head. Sakura looked thoughtful for a moment before coming to a conclusion on something.

"Actually Itachi, we don't get along as great as we used to either…ever since we moved to the dorms, we've been pretty distant, friendship wise. I don't know how much longer we'll be roomies…" Itachi looked up at her, before standing and dusting himself off. "I wouldn't think to much into it Sakura, that's just how he is sometimes." He looked at his watch."Well Sakura, I thank you once again for keeping me company today, but I really must be going." He reached into his bag and scribbled on something, before she heard paper ripping, and a small piece of folded paper was being dropped beside her. "It was nice meeting you Sakura, I'll be seeing you around sometime." With that, he walked off leaving Sakura dazed. She looked down at the paper, before slowly picking it up and reading it.

_'__Call me sometime, 892-1089, Itachi'_

Sakura stared down at the paper and she swore her heart started beating faster. _'He wants m-me to call h-him?" _Who knew this day would turn out so perfect? She sure hadn't!

_**Ok end first chappie, I hoped everyone enjoyed it, i'm looking for about 4 reviews telling me if I should continue or if there's a way to better my story. All feedback is appreciated, so have at it!**_


	2. A New Friend

Chapter 2: A New Friend

It was a very GOOD suggestion I recieved saying that I should give some information about my characters in the story, but I only going to do the main characters for now.

(Konoha University is the college that most of my characters attend)

Sasuke: 20, Lives with Sakura in the Konoha University Dorms, Sakura's best friend

Sakura: 19, Lives with Sasuke in the Konoha University Dorms, Sasuke's best friend, HATES INO

Itachi: 23, Lives in his family's mansion, Sasuke's older brother

Kiba: 20, Attends Konoha University, sort of the player of the story (lol)

Naruto: 19 Attends K.U, Hinata's boyfriend, Sasuke's best friend, secretly doesn't hate Sakura

Karin: 20 Attends K.U, Kabuto's Girlfriend, in love with Sasuke

Kabuto: 22, Karin's Boyfriend, Attends K.U, Secretly loves Sakura

Neji: 21, Tenten's Boyfriend, Attends K.U, Sasuke's second closest friend

Tenten: 19, Neji's Girlfriend, Doesn't hate Sakura but pretends to for her boyfriend, attends K.U

Hinata: 18, doesn't hate Sakura but pretends to for her boyfriend, attends K.U

Ino: 19, Sasuke's Girlfriend, HATES SAKURA, attend K.U, also likes Kiba (little slut)

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Sakura stared at the piece of paper lying in front of her. The one that _Itachi _hadgiven to her. She sighed knowing that she probably wouldn't have the courage to just call him out the blue, as if they were dating or something. _'Hey Itachi, its Sakura! You know, the one you gave a random massage to on the beach? Yep, that's me! I'm just calling to say hi, and that you're really sexy and blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!-' _

"ARRRHHHH!!!!" Sakura screamed in frustration as her brain wouldn't stop going over the stupidest things that she could possibly say to one of THEE hottest guys she's ever been lucky to know in person. She grabbed the note and stuffed it into her purse, deciding that she would torture herself over it later when her head wasn't going to explode.

She had gotten back to her dorm around 5, only to notice that Sasuke was still gone. She shrugged it off already being semi use to him staying out late like this. She decided she would take a shower and then snuggle up in her favorite blanket and watch a scary movie.

After her shower, Sakura dried her long pink strands and slipped into her pajamas, before walking out into the living room and playing the movie _13 Ghosts_. It had always been one of her favorites (**A.N. Mine Too!**). She then went into the kitchen and grabbed a can of soda and popping some popcorn, before returning to the living room, turned off the lights, and snuggled on the couch.

The movie ended around 7, but Sakura had long since fell asleep on the movie, now curled up on the comfy couch, which is why she didn't notice a quite, calm figure walking into the dorm, before slipping his shoes off and turning on the lights.

Sasuke looked around at the small mess of popcorn and soda with a slight hint at annoyance, before his eyes shifted to Sakura, at which they softened slightly. He sighed seeing that she was knocked out, so he cleaned the small mess, before picking her up effortlessly, and carrying her to her room, where he laid her on her bed, before walking out and into his own room. Sasuke walked in and took off his shirt and pants, leaving him in only his boxers, before climbing into his bed and falling asleep.

The next morning, Sakura woke up to the feeling of her nice cozy bed. She sat up looking around confusedly before crawling out of bed and exiting her room. "Sasuke?..." Sakura's quite voice rang out through the seemingly quite house. She walked towards the living room, when an all too familiar 'Hn' met her ears, along with the faint sounds of the TV. It was Sasuke, and from what she could tell, he was currently drinking coffee and watching the news.

Sakura visibly relaxed as a sigh of relief passed her lips. "Oh thank god, I didn't hear you come in last night and got kind of worried…" She looked up to see that Sasuke had glanced up at her from watching the news, before he once again looked back at the quite television.

"I know, I came back pretty late, but you shouldn't be worrying over me, I can take care of myself." Sasuke gave Sakura a sideways smirk as he saw her still fuming from the corner of his eye. He heard her mumble something like _'I didn't say you couldn't!'_, before she huffed angrily and plopped down ungracefully next to him on the swade couch, earning a glare from her partner as his cup tipped slightly. With no type of warning, Sasuke started talking.

"So, do you wanna go to a party next Friday?" Sakura looked up shocked at the random question, but replied with, "Sure! That would be great! Who's party is it?" Sasuke turned to her saying,"Kiba's," before turning to face the TV once again. Sakura was quite for a minute, before a question popped into her head.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" She looked towards him and he gave her a faint nod.

"Umm.....Do you…do you have an older brother?" Sakura was playing with the edge of her pajama pants, and missed the way that Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, in what appeared to be shock.

"Sasuke? Did you hear m-" "How do you know that?" Sasuke cut her off snappily with an angry tone to his voice, making Sakura jerk her head up to stare at him with wide eyes. "Wha-" "I said HOW DO YOU KNOW HIM!" Sasuke now yelled making Sakura jump up from the couch in fright. Sakura looked shaken at first before an angry look crossed her face. "Now you wait just a damn minute Sasuke, who the hell do you think you are yelling at me like that?! All I asked you was one question-" "Yea, well it was the WRONG damn question! I don't want to hear any shit concerning that bastard of a so called brother!"

Sasuke then slammed the remote to the TV on the coffee table, before standing up angrily and making his way back to his room.

"He's not a bastard." Sakura whispered in a quiet voice as it froze Sasuke where he stood. He slowly turned around to face Sakura with a look of utter disbelief, and what she thought was a hint of disgust on his face."What…what did you just say??" Sasuke slowly walked back towards her till he was mere inches from her, to which Sakura backed up.

"I said…Itachi," At this point Sasuke hissed at hearing his brother's name, "Is NOT a bastard….he can't be! Not after how nice he treated me yesterday an-" "So you've two have been secretly hanging out huh? You've been secretly dating the bastard huh? You two just spend all day talking about how miserable he's made my life, and then you come back to the dorms with an innocent look on your damn face like were still the best of friends? Well I've got news for you sweetheart, I'm not the one that you would want to be fucking with right now, so just piss the hell off tramp!"

At this, Sasuke continued his storm to his room, before slamming the door hard enough to crack the walls. Sakura stood shocked where she was, before falling to the floor with tears streaming down her face.

'_How DARE HE?! HOW FUCKING DARE HE!! He doesn't know SHIT to be accusing me like that! Bastard! I won't let him get to me like this anymore!" _With that she stood from the floor and made her way to her room. _'I'll show him who the tramp is!' _

Sakura hurriedly made her way to her purse to grab a certain note. She slowly pulled out the small, now crumpled piece of paper, and headed out to the living room. She grabbed the cordless phone from the receiver, before sitting back on the couch with a huff. She held the paper in her hands for a few minutes, before turning the phone on and slowly punching in the numbers one by one. When she finished, she slowly put the receiver to her ear.

The dial tone rang about 3 times, before she heard a deep, sexy male's voice answer the phone with a quite 'hello.' Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat, before forcing the words from her mouth.

"I-Itachi?...This is Sakura, from the other day?..." Sakura trailed off there hoping he would say anything. "Oh, yes, Sakura, I remember you quite well. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't call."

Sakura laughed nervously before she forced more words from her mouth." I just wanted to call you to uhh...umm." Sakura raked her brain for an excuse as to why she had called him. Suddenly, the party popped into her head. "Oh! That's right! I called to ask you if you wanted to go to a party next F-Friday...would you like to g-go?..."

It was quite for a second before an unexpectedly short, deep laugh filled the phone.

"Sakura, forgive me but you sound so nervous. Please, relax, and yes, I'd love to go." Sakura visibly relaxed as the pent up tension left her body at the sound of his agreement. She let out a small laugh herself as she thought about how stupid and nervous she probably just sounded. "Great! Umm...do you want me to give you my cell? You can call me whenever, and when I get some more info, if I don't hear from you first, I can just call you." Itachi agreed and so Sakura gave him her cell before they parted ways on the phone. Sakura hung up and sighed deeply, figuring she would get dress and hang out by herself AGAIN today, since Sasuke was acting like such an ass.

She left to her room to take a shower and came back 20 minutes later dressed in a white halter top with sakura petals outlined in green flowing to one side, and a matching green short skirt. She decided on pink flip flops to complete her outfit, before grabbing her purse and heading to the mall. Sakura arrived there about 30 minutes later, and walked into one of her favorite stores and bought a few things. After getting lunch and shopping a little bit more, Sakura decided to wind down her day by going into her favorite book store _'Barnes and Nobles.'_

Sakura picked out a couple of books that looked interesting to her, before finding a quite spot to read in the café section of the book store. Just as she was getting comfortable with the latte she had ordered and the book she was reading, a familiar deep voice startled her from behind. "May I sit here?"

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_**OK PEOPLE, HERE IS THE PROMISED UPDATE, I KNOW THIS IS KIND OF SHORT, BUT IM TRYING TO STRECTH THE STORY AS MUCH AS I CAN FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE IT GETS REAL INTERESTING AND WHERE THE PLOT FALLS IN. IM ALREADY HALF WAY DONE, SO THERE SHOULD BE AN UPDATE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, DEPENDING ON WHAT I HAVE TO DO. MUCH LOVE,**_

_**KIBASWIFEY4EVER**_


	3. A Better Understanding

Chapter 3: A Better Understanding

Sakura looked up at the owner of the voice only to find none other than Itachi. He had a small smile on his handsome face, as he stood, still awaiting an answer from her. Sakura blushed as she reliazed this before quickly inviting him to sit. Once he was comfortable, their conversation began.

"Funny coincedence running into you today Sakura. Your not by chance _stalking_ me are you?" At that he put a sexy smirk on his face as Sakura's face heated up at the implications he was making.

"Hardly, Im actually out doing some shopping and what not, and decided to end my day here. So I conclude that it is YOU who is following ME." At that Itachi out right laughed, before shaking his head and changing the subject. "So since you're here, how about you update me on that whole party thing, hm?" Sakura lowered her head towards the table as she was suddenly reminded of the fight that Sasuke and herself had gotten into earlier.

'_I actually don't know that much myself…how am I going to explain this one? I don't wanna sound like i'm tattling on Sasuke or nothing…(sigh)…' _Sakura looked back up to see that Itachi was still patiently awaiting an answer for his question, so she did the only thing she could do in her situation. Tell the truth.

"Umm…actually Itachi…I really don't know that much myself. You see…Sasuke had invited me, and I immediately knew that I was gonna ask you to come with me (at this she blushed deeply at her amitteness), but then Sasuke and I got into a big fight, and he started acussing me of dating you! He's such an arrogant bastard sometimes, I swear! All I did was ask him if he had a brother which I knew was you, but I had wanted to ask him why he hadn't ever told me about you before, but he blew up, and-" "Sakura, do you mind if I cut in?" Sakura looked shocked and embarrased at the fact that she had just rambled to a guy that could probably care less about a brother he hadnt gotten along with in 8 years. "Y-Yea sure…s-sorry for all the rambling…" Itachi shook his head as if to say _not a problem at all _before his face took on one of seriousness. "I'm sorry to say, but I don't think you understand just how _much_ Sasuke truly _hates _me. I'm going to tell you a secrect now that I ask you not to repeat, even to him. The true reason Sasuke hates me, started back around when he was alittle boy about 8 years old…

_(Flashback)_

_A young Sasuke stood next to his older brother Itachi, as foster home care agents told Itachi that they would be seperating Itachi and Sasuke. Sasuke looked up at his older brother in fright and gripped his hand tighter, begging Itachi to reconsider his decision. _

"_Big brother, please! Don't let them separate us! Lets just move back in with momma and dad and then we wont have to leave each other, please!!" Sasuke looked close to tears as he stared up at his older brother who had his eyes closed as he knew what he had to do, but God strike him if he thinks it's what he wanted to do. _

"_Sasuke, you don't know father as I do. That's why you don't understand yet that what I'm doing is the best for you now, all though I wish I could avoid it, please just now that I'm doing this because I love you." With that, it seemed as if it was in slow motion that Itachi placed Sasuke's smaller hand, into the one of the lady holding her's out waiting to take Sasuke away. Sasuke fought tooth and nail to get away from the lady that was now taking him away from his beloved older brother. _

"_Itachi! Don't let them take me! Please! I wanna go back home with momma, please! Itachi!!" But Itachi kept his back turned as he heard his brother cry out to him, all the while making his heart ache horribly at what he had done. If their bastard of a father wouldn't have reported them missing and then claiming he wanted them put in homes to be more grateful and know that that's what happens to childern that run away, then just maybe they could've continued the fairly peaceful life they had started. _

_As Itachi heard car doors close with a firm shut, the sounds of his desperate brother were drowned out as the car pulled away. Only then did Itachi feel that he had the courage to turn around towards where his little brother had only stood moments ago. 'I promise you Sasuke, they will not keep us seperated forever. We will be together again, so have faith.' With that, he slowly turned to walk back up to the small apartment that they had shared. He missed him already. They had actually been doing better since they moved into the small place. Itachi had saved up enough money to surprisingly, buy a small house, but he knew better than to spend all of his money like that, so instead, he had rented them a small apartment, and on top of the job he had, they held a pretty decent life. 'I will get you back Sasuke, don't worry…'_

_(End Flashback)_

Sakura had listened to the story intently. She felt tears surface her eyes, but forced them down with a harshness, knowing this wasn't the time or place to get to emotinally conflicted. "So you see, ever since then, the visit's I tried making to him only helped for a while, but eventually, all the stress just got to him one day, and it's the very same day that for the first time in our life's, that he told me he hated me. And he ment it."

_(Flashback)_

_Itachi was currently making his way to the current home that Sasuke was living in. He was lucky enough to make a deal with the foster home parents that he would be able to visist his brother on occasion to check up on him. Today was one of those days. Itachi also had a check for Sasuke for $100 dollars just as a small surpise for him. As he arrived at the house, he knocked on the door and waited patienly for someone to answer. He was greeted by an older son of the foster parents, to which he let Itachi walk in as he waited for them to get Sasuke. _

_A now 12 year old Sasuke came walking in slowly, not as enthusiasctic about seeing his older brother as he had once been when he was younger. They walked out to the front pourch where Itachi embrassed his younger brother in a strong hug, to which Sasuke only half heartedly responded to. They sat on the steps before Itachi started speaking. _

"_So, how is everything going?" Sasuke looked bored as he answered, "The same as usual." Itachi looked over noticing the change in Sasuke's attitude lately. "It's funny, I cant believe your already twelve. And your starting to grow taller like you always wanted." Sasuke sort of shrugged his shoulders at the statement, and his brothers attempts to make small talk, neither of which worked to well. Itachi sighed seeing that his brother was'nt going to be too responsive today, so he jumped right to the surprise. _

"_I have something for you Sasuke." He then pulled out the check and handed it to Sasuke. Sasuke stared at it before placing the check back into Itachi's hands. _

"_I don't need it Itachi." _

_Sasuke looked as if he was about to leave and Itachi felt his insides boil at his brother's unresponsiveness. _

"_Sasuke, I don't know what the hell your problem is today, but you need to shape up. I'm trying to help you, but that's really hard when you act as if you don't care." "That's because I don't! I don't care anymore Itachi! Whats the point of caring if you cant rely on your family in a time of need?" "Sasuke, don't you dare speak of that! YOU know why I did what I did, but now I'm trying to change things! I promised I'd get you back, and I will!" _

_Sasuke looked infuriated at that statement and his eyes darkened dangerously. "You still seem to think that I care Itachi, but I don't! Ok, so you taking me from my family when I was younger, AND THEN giving me up was doing whats best for me, then FINE! I just want you to get it through your head that I DON'T CAR-!!! "(Punch) _

_Itachi looked at Sasuke with deadly eyes as his voice dropped down from the yelling it was at, to a quietly angry one. _

"_Don't you ever for a second say that what I did was out of selfishness. What I did was save both your and my future. Don't you get it? Our father would have gotten us killed when we were younger because of his debts, and I luckly found out about it before it was too late and got us out of there. I SAVED YOU!" _

_Sasuke still seemed shocked that Itachi had actually hit him. Then his eyes narrowed dangerously, before he too spoke in that quite tone. "Am I supposed to be thankful? Thankful that you broke up our family? Well I'm not. My life has been HELL living in home to home constantly. And to think this could've all been avoided……well guess what brother, just let the record show that I HATE YOU!" _

_With that, Sasuke stood quickly, and stormed back into the house, slamming the door as he disappeared through it. Itachi stood shocked, staring at the door as if it were some kind of monster come true. ' Very well then Sasuke , it seems that you have chosen the path you would like to walk, I wont stand in your way. I just hope someday you will be able to understand the sacrifices that I've made for us, and forgive me.' With that, Itachi slowly walked back to his car, not knowing that this one fateful meeting with his brother, would lead to the eventual anger and hatred between the two once close brothers._

_(End Flashback)_

Sakura stared at Itachi, shocked at all that she had found out. 'Wow……that REALLY explains why Sasuke blew up at me…when Itachi said they didn't like each other, he MENT it!' Itachi had a distant, but blank look on his face as he glanced down at his wrist watch. He quickly glanced back up saying,"Sakura, it was nice seeing you again, but I really must run. Remember to call me when you have more information on the party, and don't forget, that's _our _secrect." With that, Itachi stood from the table and left out of the book store. Sakura slowly made her way out of the book store, deciding that she had had enough adventure for the day. As she made her way back towards the dorms, she thought over what Itachi had told her. She still couldn't believe how she hadn't known all of this stuff before. I mean, Sasuke _was _her bestfriend. She could still remember how she came upon him her first day at Konoha University perfectly…

_(Flashback)_

_A pink haired woman was silently making her way through the huge university. She had just gotten her room number, and was setting off to find it. 'Hmm…3__rd__ floor, room 314, roomate name Sasu-', but before Sakura could even finish her thought, she bumped into a hard wall, and looked up only to see a man about 5'11 staring down at her. _

"_Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I really wasn't paying attention to what I was doing." The man she addressed stared at her a minuet longer before a sly smirk spread across his handsom face. "No problem at all. By the way, my name is Skyler, and what would your name be?" Sakura looked up at him seeming to get a creepy vibe from him before answering 'Sakura Haruno,' and then looking as if she would leave. _

"_Hey, so where ya headed?" Skyler quickly popped out seeing as Sakura was tring to leave. Sakura turned around and stared at him before telling him she was looking for her room. Skyler put a look of shock on his face. "You're new here? I didn't know that…would you like some help?" He then put on a smile that she could instantly tell was fake, but she really wanted to just get to her room and relax, so she nodded her head, and handed him her paper. _

"_3__rd__ floor, room 314 eh? No problem at all." Skyler walked away, leading her in a different direction then what she had been walking. Sakura walked behind him at a fairly good distance, still receiving the creepy feeling from him, and now wondering if it had been such a good idea to accept his help. Skyler led her to a staircase, telling her that the elevator was broken. "Sorry, they still havent fixed that damn elevator, or I would get ya up there that way. Good thing you don't have a lot of bags, huh?" Skyler turned around grinning at her, and the creepy feeling she got from him got even worse, but she forced a fake smile telling herself that she was almost to the room, and she could then dicth the creep. _

_They had only walked up about one flight of stairs before Skyler suddenly stopped and turned towards Sakura. They were standing on the platform turn off leading to the next set of stairs, and Sakura suddenly became worried. _

"_Skyler? What's wrong-"But before she could finish, she was being slammed into the side of the stair well. Sakura let out a surprised scream, before staring fear stricken eyes towards Skyler. "W-What the hell are you-" "Shut up! Don't you say shit! And if you scream, you better believe that I'm gonna kill your pretty ass!" _

_Sakura dropped her purse to the floor, which at the time had been the only thing she was carrying and cowered under Skyler's intense gaze as she struggled to get away. It was filled with a raging lust that she wished she wasn't on the reciveing end of. _

'_Damnit!! I knew I shouldn't of trusted him! Why the hell don't I ever listen to my fucking self?!' But Sakura knew that this was no time to be screaming at herself, when she should be trying to find a way out of this situation alive. She must have been zoning out, because a second later, her face was smacked to the side, and a powerful stinging feeling soon took over. _

"_Bitch, are you even listening to me?!" Sakura turned back towards him with hate filled eyes before screaming "FUCK YOU!" and renewing her struggles. _

_Skyler looked deadly pissed now as he smacked her once again,and throwing her on the floor. Sakura wanted to cry out, but she also wanted to live, so she instead fought for her freedom, tooth and nail. Skyler had just got her pinned down, and lowered his head to her ear. "What the hell did I tell you about screaming, bitch? Your so damn lucky that I havent had a good fuck in a while, or your ass would be DEAD. I hope you like it rough sweetheart!" With that feared and dreaded sentence, Skyler gripped at Sakura's shirt, before tearing it off. _

_Sakura let out a surprised yelp, earning herself yet another painful smack to the face. Tears started pouring out of Sakura's eyes as her struggles got weaker. 'I'm so fucking weak! And now this bastard is gonna take something not meant for his disgusting ass!' _

_Skyler was now making his way up Sakura's now bare chest, squeezing her left breast painfully, and making her cry out. His other hand pinned her hands above her head, and just as he lowered his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth, the sound of flesh hitting flesh hard was heard, before Skyler went limp on top of her body, knocking the wind out of her as he crashed on top of her. _

_Sakura let out a scream of relief as she pushed Skyler's body off of hers, and snatched up her ripped shirt and proceed to hold it close. She then looked up at the figure that had saved her and gasped. "Sa…Sasuk-ke?...."_

_(Up on third floor – Sasuke's POV)_

_Sasuke had just left his dorm room to meet up with a couple of friends at their house for a drink, when he caught the sound of screaming. He froze in his tracks as he tried to locate where the sound was coming from. He waited and didn't hear anything else, so he continued his walk towards the elevators, when he knew for sure he heard someone scream out 'FUCK YOU', and looked towards the stairwell door. _

'_No, can't be. Everyone knows not to go through that staircase…unless their new…' Sasuke sighed and made his way to the door. He quietly opened it and looked over the rail down the staircase at the source of the commotion. There towards the bottom, was Skyler, the college jackass as he would say, along with a distressed pink haired woman. _

'_Wait……pink hair? No fucking way…' With that thought he flew down the stairs to see Skyler feeling up on the beautiful pink haired woman, and lowering his head towards her chest. Before he reached his destination, Sasuke landed a powerful blow to his head, knocking Skyler out. He then watched as the woman grabbed her shirt and slipped it back on and held the front together with her hands, seeing as that was where Skyler ripped it. After collecting herself, she slowly looked up at him, and her eyes widened at the knowledge of who he was, as did his at the realization of her. _

"_Sa…Sasuk-ke..."_

_(Normal POV)_

_Sakura stared up at him disbelievingly as he did her, before she stood and launched herself at him. Sasuke caught her and Sakura cried her eye's out in a happy and thankful way. "Oh thank god Sasuke! It seems that after all these years, your still protecting me from danger!" As she cried on his chest, he wrapped his arms tighter around her and smiled sadly at what she had said. 'So it would seem Sakura.' _

_(End Flashback)_

Sakura shook the horrifying yet happy experience from her mind, the only good thing about the memory being that she was reunited with her best friend. She had then found out that he was her roommate, and after she settled in, she reported what Skyler had done, and had him removed from the University. 'Hmm! Bastard got what he deserved!'

_**OK PEOPLE, HERE IS THE NEW UPDATE. IF MY LIFE WASN'T GOING SO CRAZY, I COULD'VE HAD THE UPDATE SOONER (LOL). YEP-ER, SO I HOPE EVERY ONE ENJOYS IT! NEXT CHAPTER: THE PARTY.**_


	4. The Party Pt 1

**I want to personally apologize to all the people that made an effort to review my stories before and after my author's note that I wrote yesterday. I especially want to say sorry for a promise that I failed to keep. I _promised _there would be three new updates, and I'm bring ½ of one. I knew I would have the day off of work today and decided I would take my time and finish my updates, but of course I was not allowed the privilege -_-. I have been running around all day, and by the time I officially sat down at my laptop, it was going on 10:30. I wanted to submit this though because I felt it was a good start and I wanted to get something out tonight. To anyone following any of my stories, you will get your update :) Whether tonight or by tomorrow I'm not sure, but please be expecting it. Also the second half of this chapter will most certainly be done by tomorrow at the latest. Thank you for your patience with me!**

**- ForeverChanged1403**

(0o0o0o0)

Chapter 4 : The Party Pt.1

Friday came sooner then Sakura thought it would, an she wasn't any less nervous about Kiba's party then when Sasuke had first invited her to go, and then her inviting Itachi.

'Probably should have thought that one through more...'

Yes, she _did _want Itachi to go with her, but under different circumstances. She invited him on a whim in the heat of the argument she had with Sasuke, but now that she had time to think about it, she was sort of throwing Itachi under the bus. He had no knowledge what so ever that Sasuke had invited her to the party, and she wouldn't forgive herself if she was the cause of a brawl between the already distant brothers. She considered just canceling on him, to prevent any future problems that may arise. With her mind made up, Sakura reached for her cell phone before searching through her contacts for Itachi's number. After she found it she called him and waited. On the third ring she was greeted with Itachi's familiar deep voice, and took a deep sigh before speaking.

"Hey Itachi, it's Sakura..."

"Yes, Sakura, I'm glad to hear from you. Are we still on for the party tonight?"

Sakura felt bad about doing this, canceling the day of, and she felt even more horrible that she invited him solely at that moment to piss Sasuke off more than he had her that night. It wasn't fair and it was childish. 'Hopefully I can make it up to him somehow...'

"Yea that's why I was calling Itachi...there's something that you need to know, something I didn't tell you at the time I invited you. You see...Sasuke was the one to invite me to the party... which is actually his friend Kiba's party, and we got into a fight because I mentioned meeting you, and then I sort of called you and invited you to go with me. I'm so sorry, I feel horrible for not even considering how that might make you to feel..."

Sakura faded off from rambling and waited anxiously for Itachi to speak. She had heard him sigh when she mentioned that Sasuke had been the one to invite her to the party, to which she slightly winced just imagining the annoyance that he probably felt towards her at the moment, and now she was prepared to face his much understood wrath should he choose to unleash it on her. After what seemed like hours, when in fact it was mere moments, Itachi finally graced her ears with his voice.

"Sakura...although I appreciate the invitation to the party, I hope you will not think it rude of me if I must decline on such short notice."

Sakura, who had been holding her breath in anticipation, slowly released it through her mouth in a shaky breath before slapping herself in the forehead. She was so _stupid _sometimes! Itachi seemed like a very nice guy, despite the fact that she had _just _met him not to long ago, and the hateful way that Sasuke spoke about him, and she felt awful for almost pushing him into what would have been a VERY uncomfortable situation for all three of them. An to make her feel worst, _he _was apologizing as if he was in the wrong for trying to prevent a showdown that he himself most likely predicted as had she.

"No, Itachi, please don't apologize. I'm the one who's sorry. I was angry at Sasuke when I called, and it wasn't right to almost force you into a confrontational meeting with him when you had no prior knowledge that he'd be there. I hope your not too angry at me, and I'd like to make it up to you. Maybe we could hang at the beach again sometime, or Barnes and Nobles, my treat."

Sakura hoped that he would take the outing that she provided, and wouldn't be too mad. Imagine her surprise when she heard a soft chuckle leaving his voice and floating into her ears.

"Sakura, it's no problem, really. Apology accepted and yes I will certainly take you up on your offer. I rather liked our time at the beach the other day, and would be more than happy to have a repeat performance."

Sakura could practically hear the smirk in his voice and it made her blush a deep shade of red. W-Was..was Itachi _flirting _with her? No...it couldn't be, it had to be in her imagination. She shook the idea from her mind and smiled at the thought of another relaxing day on the beach with him.

"Sure, that would be great Itachi. You name the time and day, and it's a date! E-Er! Um...plan! It's a plan..."

Sakura once again smacked herself in the face for her proclamation as her face burned a fiery red. Itachi just gave his soft chuckle again as if he was amused by the whole situation and her discomfort.

"Alright then, I will get back with you on the day and time. Until then, Sakura."

(0o0o0o0)

(Sakura's POV)

I mumbled a quick goodbye before we parted ways on the phone. I took a huge sigh of relief that it hadn't gone as bad as I initial thought it might. I still feel crappy for how I went into the situation, but Itachi was okay with it and we had arranged another day to hang. I got up from the couch and stretched. After glancing at the clock I found out it was 10:42 am, and decided to hop into the shower real quick. 'I'm surprised that Sasuke isn't awake yet, he never sleeps in this late...' A quick glance into his room answered her question. 'Of course he's already gone...he probably left early to go hang with Ino or something...' Shaking my head, I made my way into my room and hopped in the shower.

(0o0o0o0)

(Normal POV)

Sasuke sat in a diner with Ino sitting across from him talking animatedly about something she bought while she was at the mall the other day. He could care less, but none the less he nodded his head to signify that he was listening, and continued to sip on his black coffee. He was probably going to need a second cup to get through the rest of this breakfast date with Ino. After a moment he realized that she had stopped speaking and was looking at him expectantly. He slowly turned to face her and raised his eyebrow.

"You were saying?"

Ino sighed before waving him off. Oh well, he wasn't particularly interested in the conversation anyways. That didn't stop Ino from getting on his case anyways, to which he let out a deep sigh.

"Geez Sasuke, what's gotten into you this morning? Your acting more standoffish than usually and _that's _really saying something. What's on your mind?"

Sasuke looked at Ino for a moment and saw the genuine concern in her cornflower blue eyes. No matter how rude and irritating she was most times, he would always be able to admit that she was a good girlfriend. She was a caring person when she wasn't going through one of her moods, and he knew that she truly loved him. If only she wasn't so horrible to his best friend, she would truly and completely be perfect in his eyes. That one single flaw about her outweighed the many others that she had. At the thought of Sakura he perked up remembering something that he had neglected to mention beforehand.

"I invited Sakura to Kiba's party." Sasuke said calmly, looking straight into Ino's horrified widening eyes as her mouth slowly opened as she attempted to speak.

"You...you are _NOT _serious right? PLEASE tell me that your _joking _Sasuke!" Her eyes filled with a rage that he just couldn't fathom for the life of him. Sakura had never done _anything_ to Ino in her entire time of knowing her that would've provoked such unnecessary hatred towards her, and it was pass annoying. He didn't judge any of her friends as much as they irritated him from time to time, and he was getting fed up with her judgmental attitude.

"Listen to me Ino, and listen to me well. I _hate _having to repeat myself as you are aware of, and I do not appreciate you testing my patience. For the last and _final _time I will say this. If you have nothing nice to say about Sakura, then don't speak of her. And yes, I did invite her to his party. I told you beforehand that I did _not _wish to go tonight, but you badgered me into going, and because you are my girlfriend I will suck it up. Don't think however that I will tolerate your unnecessary cruel attitude towards Sakura tonight. It's not even your party, and if your going to make a fuss about her going, don't expect to see me tonight either."

Sasuke took a deep breath and tried calming himself down. He had never spoken so much at one time, and the fact that Ino forced that side out of him was beyond infuriating. It wasn't necessary and he wouldn't let her make a habit of it. Hopefully as she sat wide eyed, mouth agape in shock across from him, that she had gotten his point. She stared at him for a moment before crossing her arms and snorting lightly.

"Fine! I don't care Sasuke, do what you like. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, which I _don't_. I hope _you _know that she's going to be pretty lonely tonight unless you were planning on ditching me to hold her hand the whole night." Sasuke groaned irritatedly before dropping his face into his hands.

"Don't worry about it Ino, it's not your business. She will be fine. Sakura is grown and is perfectly capable of talking to people and socializing."

With that the subject was dropped as Ino tried changing the focus back to her. Sasuke mentally sighed knowing that at least with the change of subject, they wouldn't be fighting a battle over Sakura. Ino would have to accept the fact that Sakura was an important part of his life if they were going to continue being a couple.

(0o0o0o0)

Sakura had lounged around the house after her shower that morning, and did a little cleaning and cooking. She wondered when Sasuke would be home, and even if he would allow her to still go to the party. Maybe she should've told him she changed her mind and ditch him for Itachi?...No, that would turn out bad if he ever found out. She said she would go and so she was. She'd just have to suck up her pride and deal with it. She had an outfit specifically picked out for this occasion, and she had to admit she was eager to put it on. She bought a ruffle-front red v-neck dress that fell an inch above her knees, that also had a thin black belt that wrapped around the waist. The back was cut out, and she would wear it with her black knee high heeled boots. She would also curl her hair slightly, and top off the outfit with light eyeliner and emerald studded earrings. She had the whole thing planned out, originally because she thought Itachi was going and she wanted to look her best...but also because she knew _Ino_ would be there and she would _not _let her try to outshine her.

As she pondered over her thoughts the door to her dorm opened and Sasuke walked in. He was quiet as he hung his keys up and then made his way to the living room to sit beside her. They were both quiet for a moment, lost in their thoughts, before he decided to break the silence.

"Are you still going to the party tonight?" Sakura had lowered her eyes to her hands and played with her nails as she nodded her head slowly.

"Hn. Then I will right down the address for you and you can show up when you like. I'm leaving around 9, and I would offer you a ride but Ino is riding with me so I assumed-"

"That's fine. I will ride with you. No sense in using two cars to go to the same place and come back to the same place." She would not let Ino have complete domination over her life and relationship with Sasuke, and this would be a nice slap to her face, which is what she was hoping for. Sasuke looked mildly surprised that she had decided to ride with them, but nodded his head none the less.

"Very well, be ready to go by 8:50. I will pick Ino up and then come back to get you. I have a few places to run to, so I will return in about an hour or two."

Sakura glanced at the clock. Wow, was it really going on six? How time flew by...Sakura nodded her head in agreement and watched as Sasuke went into his room to change and came back out in a black button up shirt with a white wife beater under neath and a dark pair of blue jeans. He said goodbye as he once again grabbed his keys and left. Sakura looked around the apartment and decided she had nothing to do. Everything was cleaned or washed, so she decided to take a nap. 'Might as well, it'll make time go by quicker.' With that, she walked into her room and set her phone to 8:00pm. She already took a shower, so she would just need to freshen up before changing into her dress tonight.

(0o0o0o0)

**The Party Pt.2 is being written as you read this, please look for it sometime tomorrow! Also expect _a lot _more Sak/Ita goodness and ndsome shock a sadness with the next chapter.**


	5. The Party Pt 2

**Ok, so no more promising updates by certain days -_- I feel terrible when I don't fulfill my promises, so I'll just update as quickly as I can from now on ^-^ On with the story!**

**- ForeverChanged1403 **

(0o0o0o0)

Chapter 5: The Party Pt. 2

Before Sakura knew it, her phone was blaring its ring tone in her ear and she reached to shut it off. Was it really eight pm already? So much for her power nap...She got out of bed and freshened up before slipping on her dress and heels, and starting the process of curling her hair. When she finished with that she put in her studded earrings, and to complete her look, she applied a small coat of pink lip gloss to her lips. Finally ready, she glanced at her phone and found she had five minutes to spare, so she walked into the living room and sat to wait for Sasuke.

'Hmm, I wonder what Itachi is gonna do tonight?' She quickly pulled out her phone to text him.

"It'll kill some time at least..." Sakura mumbled to herself. She sent the short text, 'Hey, what are you doing?', and waited for a reply. She didn't wait long, for a few moments later, her phone vibrated in her hand.

'Heading to a bar, what about you?'

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed together. Bar? In the short time she had known him, Itachi didn't seem like the type of guy to spend his nights in a bar...maybe she didn't know him as well as she assumed? Nonetheless, she shook off her thoughts and quickly texted that back.

'Waiting for Sasuke...to head to the party...' She waited a bit longer this time for a reply, but it came.

'I see. Well, be safe and call me if you need me.'

Sakura smiled a little at his last text. He seemed worried about her, and it made her feel good inside. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that Sasuke slamming the door caught her by surprise. She quickly stuffed her phone in her purse, before walking to Sasuke.

"Sorry I'm late, are you ready?"

Sakura nodded her head before quickly glancing at their wall clock, shocked to see that it was 9:05 PM. Sasuke was so...punctual. For him to be late was unusual...oh well.

(0o0o0o0)

(Sasuke POV)

The showdown between him and Ino about Sakura riding with them left so much tension in the air, he was surprised it didn't choke them both. It was the reason they were _late_, something he wasn't really accustomed to. He could only pray that as he and Sakura made their way to his car, that Ino would keep her damn mouth shut. Sasuke sighed quietly, it was going to be a _long_ drive.

(0o0o0o0)

"Hey, he did invite her, so go with the original plan. This will teach that little pink-haired bitch about interfering with _my _life. Oh I have to go, he's coming, but be_ ready_ when we get there. Okay, see you then."

(0o0o0o0)

(Sakura's POV)

The drive was just as uncomfortable and awkward as I imagined it would be, but it was worth seeing the annoyed look on Ino's face the entire time. When we finally arrived at Kiba's, my heartbeat increased slightly.

'I don't know anyone here…and I'm terrible at meeting new people!'

Sakura tried swallowing her panic as she followed Sasuke into the house. The music was blaring and there were people everywhere. Lounging, drinking, making out?

'Ew, do that in private!'

They walked to a large group of people that Sakura knew as Sasuke's 'close' friends. They stood around, some with drinks in their hands, the others laughing and talking to each other. As we neared, they looked up, some shocked that I'd actually shown up. There was an awkward pause before Kiba broke the silence.

"So Sakura, you've made it to my party."

(0o0o0o0)

(Normal POV)

Sakura looked shocked that she was being acknowledged, but spoke nonetheless.

"Uh…yeah, so I have."

Ino rolled her eyes and walked over to the girl's in the group, chatting to them and tuning Sakura and the guys out. Sasuke looked slightly uncomfortable and cleared his throat, but Sakura got the hint. She sighed before speaking to him.

"I'll go…talk to somebody. Let me know when you're leaving, okay?"

Sasuke quickly nodded before turning back to his group, and Sakura walked off to find a drink. 'Can't do this sober I suppose.' As she approached a table with various liquor and juice on it, she reached for a cup when out of nowhere a slender, pale hand caught her wrist. Sakura quickly glanced up to see an attractive blue-haired woman with honey colored eyes and a bottom lip labret. She released her hand with a friendly smile before speaking.

"I wouldn't if I were you!" She spoke loudly to be heard over the music. "I've seen different boys slip all kind of shit in there. Come on, follow me."

With that, the still nameless blue-haired girl walked away into what appeared the kitchen. She crouched down to a bottom cabinet and took out a small bottle of vodka, a can of sprite, and stood up before mixing the two in a cup. She then handed the cup to Sakura.

"Sip on that instead." She said.

"Um, thanks for that?..."

The girl looked surprised for a second before grinning at her.

"My name is Konan. What about you?"

"Sakura, nice to meet you."

"You too. So, what brings you here? This doesn't seem like your style of party."

So Sakura proceed to tell little details about her past few days with Konan, and even found out that she knew Itachi. They were in some school group together, or something. Before she knew it she was on her 3rd drink and _definitely_ feeling the effects. She learned a few things about Konan as well, like her boyfriend Pein was the leader of their school group Akatsuki, and that their goal was improving the school and _world_. The declaration made Sakura bust out laughing, but that was probably from the alcohol. Konan laughed with her as she tried convincing her she was serious.

"No, I mean it!" Konan laughed. "We started this group when we were younger, and it's followed us too college. We feel we can make a difference in this dark world." Konan smiled afterwards.

Sakura quieted down a little, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. Although everything seemed immensely funny for some reason, she blamed it on the liquor. She hadn't ever been an alcohol drinker. She tasted it once under peer pressure, and the horrid taste had left her with a resolution to never try it again. But as Konan mixed them both a 4th cup, she forgot why she had made such a vow. The more she drank, the better it started to taste. They had moved from the kitchen to the living room, and sat on a couch laughing an attempting to share stories. They even managed to exchange numbers after much fumbling with their phones, and promised to keep in contact after the party. Sakura was laughing at something Konan was telling her, when suddenly she had to use the bathroom.

"Hey Konan, c-can you tell me where the bathroom is in this place?" Sakura stuttered a bit. Who would've thought, Sakura Haruno got drunk!

Konan laughed a bit before getting her words out. "Yeah it's upstairs on the left. D-Don't get lost!"

Sakura promised to return quickly before getting up and making her way through the many people and walking upstairs and to the bathroom. When she finished and washed her hands, she opened the door and yelped in surprise at the person in front of her.

"K-Kabuto!"

"Hello, Sakura."

(0o0o0o0)

(Sasuke's POV)

The party was just as boring as he thought it was going to be. All they did was stand around and talk like they _always _did, but the plus side was seeing Sakura so happy. He checked in on her a few times, and found her laughing with some blue-haired girl. 'What a pair…' Just as he started to zone out, Ino called for his attention.

"Sasuke, let's get out of here for a minute." She said with a slight slur.

"And go where, exactly?" Sasuke asked with his eyebrow raised. Ino pouted before crossing her hands across her chest.

"Back to my place of course." She said in an irritated voice. Sasuke mentally sighed in relief. Thank god she was ready to leave, it was the best news he'd had all night.

"Fine, let me go and get Sakura, we can drop her off." Sasuke said as he made to go and get said girl. Ino grabbed his arm suddenly and stood in front of him.

"Sasuke she will be fine! Just leave her and we can come back later! Please…" Ino tried giving her best puppy pout, and Sasuke glanced at Sakura once more to see her still enjoying herself. No point in making her leave early if they'd be back soon. He sighed as he gave in.

"Fine. Kiba, keep an eye on her would you." Sasuke asked, and when Kiba nodded, he and Ino made their way out the house. Ino glanced back for a second, before attaching herself to his arm as they left.

(0o0o0o0)

(Kiba's POV)

As Sasuke and Ino made their way out the house, Ino turned around and winked at me.

'That's my queue.'

He nodded as she turned back to Sasuke and they left. Now all he had to do was wait for a good moment to get Sakura alone. She'd been with Konan the entire night, so he couldn't just call her away because it would raise suspicion. He didn't wait long because after a few minutes, he saw her stand and make her way through the crowd of people, and to the stairs.

'Perfect.'

Kiba eyed Kabuto who got the hint, and they walked away from their group. Kiba had decided to just let Kabuto handle it, it wouldn't take two of them to scare one girl.

"Kabuto, you know the plan. She just headed upstairs, probably to the bathroom. Make sure she knows that Ino means business."

"Are you not coming with me?" Kabuto asked in confusion. Kiba had after all been the one to ask him for help with this. Kiba shook his head no.

"Nah, it doesn't take two of us. I know your _true_ feelings about her, so I figured you wouldn't mind. Hurry though, keep her upstairs."

Kabuto nodded before making his way upstairs. Just as he reached the bathroom, he heard the sink running and smirked.

'Perfect timing.'

A moment later the door opened, and Sakura slightly jumped and yelped at seeing him. Her emerald eyes showed the fright she felt that second.

"K-Kabuto!" She said nervously.

"Hello, Sakura." He smirked.

(0o0o0o0)

(Sakura's POV)

'W-What the hell…is Kabuto doing here?' Sakura thought as she started to get a bad vibe from the smirk he had on his face. He seemed to chuckle at a thought before shaking it off.

"Nice to see you to, Sakura. If you have a moment, I'd like to speak to you about something?" He tried to give her a friendly smile, but it still managed to creep her out. 'Talk to her? About _what _exactly? He's never had anything to say to her before!' Sakura glanced down to her hands nervously before speaking.

"S-Sorry Kabuto…but Konan is expecting me back soon…" Sakura tried to sound calm, but the damn stutter was still with her. 'Stupid alcohol!' Once again Kabuto chuckled before walking to the door across the hall and opening it.

"Please, it will just be a moment. I'm sure you won't be too missed for a few minutes." He said as he held out his hand. Sakura hesitated for a moment, having a question of her own.

"Then ask me. What is wrong with here?" Sakura questioned. As far as she was concerned, all of Sasuke's friends _hated _her because they were Ino's friends as well, and _she _hated her. So Kabuto out-of-the-blue asking to speak to her put her on edge. But at the same time the alcohol loosened some of the fear she's sure she would be feeling at the moment.

"As loud as the music in this house is, there are people crowding the stairs and I don't wish for anyone to hear me. It is about…Sasuke." Kabuto said.

'Sasuke? What happened? She had noticed she hadn't seen him anywhere when she left for the bathroom. Sakura sighed, giving in a little.

"Fine, but just for a moment. I don't want to keep Konan waiting too long." She said.

"A moment is all I require." Kabuto said as Sakura walked pass him and into the room. She looked around the room before coming to the conclusion that they were in Kiba's room. If the many pictures of him and his dog Akamaru around the room didn't tell her, then the sight of the huge dog bed near the mattress was a dead giveaway. As she stood there, she turned to face Kabuto just in time to see and hear him lock the door. And then she realized that in her drunken stupor, she'd made a horrible choice in trusting him.

'Sasuke!'

(0o0o0o0)

**Okay, I'm FINALLY done with this chapter! I quit and restarted SO. MANY. TIMES. I kept losing my motivation…but I'm glad I got through it! Next chapter will be up soon****.**** I couldn't leave you guys on a cliff like that for another 3 or 4 weeks ;)**


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